Process Engineering Analysis of Transport Options for Green Hydrogen and Green Hydrogen Derivatives

Abstract

The transition of the German economy and energy system toward CO2 neutrality requires large quantities of climate‐friendly chemical energy carriers, such as green hydrogen, to be imported. The decision on the most favorable import routes must consider its energy efficiency. To respect the remaining CO2 budget to achieve the 1.5° climate target, the implementation time and therefore additional evaluation criteria must be taken into account. In this article, as a first step, the energy utilization rate () for different hydrogen import options is evaluated. Starting off from hydrogen at 25 °C and 25 bar produced in the exporting country, liquid hydrogen, ammonia, liquid methane (Green LNG), methanol, and liquid organic hydrogen carrier are considered as chemical energy carries. Liquid hydrogen is in future the most efficient import option ( = 73%) when gaseous hydrogen is supplied in the importing country. When direct utilization of the H2 derivatives is considered, the ammonia import route has the highest energy utilization rate with 77%. If point sources for CO2 are considered, direct utilization of methanol ( = 83%) and Green LNG ( = 76%) are energetically favorable import options. Additional significant criteria for a technological assessment are maturity of technologies, available capacities, infrastructures, and production processes.